The Great Zhou. The Jade Capital, in the vast and imposing estate of the King of Qi.

Within a secret room, aromatic smoke wafted out of an incense burner.

Second Prince Zhou Zhikun, who two years ago had received the title “King of Qi”, sat there, his expression dark and unsightly.

His hands tightly clenched the secret communications he’d just received from the Imperatorial Province.

The letter wrote that the group led by Xiang Tianqiu had all died brutal deaths atop the Western Mountain. The dead included the Su Family’s Yue Changyuan, as well as Qin Changshan, a fifth-level Grandmaster!

Yet, there were no casualties in the sixth prince’s camp.

The secret document also contained an analysis of the situation. It concluded that Su Yi was most likely the one who’d determined the sixth prince’s victory!

The message contained no specifics or detailed descriptions, but Zhou Zhikun nevertheless sank into a deep rage.

“Second Brother, it’s already happened. There’s no need to stay angry over this. No, what we need to do now is get a sense of Imperial Father’s attitude towards this incident,” the third prince, Zhou Zhizhen, said gravely. “The way I see it, one of Sixth Brother’s followers causing such a bloody debacle is sure to fling the entire province into an uproar. There’s no way Imperial Father will just let him off!”

His tone was menacing, and it carried a hint of a chill.

“If we lost the position of provincial governor, we lost it. I don’t care about that. I just never would have guessed that a mediocre, pompous playboy like our sixth brother had such tricks up his sleeve!” said Zhou Zhikun, his expression dark. “We all underestimated him!”

“No, I certainly don’t think so.” Zhou Zhizhen’s eyes flashed. “At the end of the day, victory and defeat came down to just one person: Su Yi!”

Zhou Zhikun’s eyes narrowed. “But according to my investigations, although the boy comes from the Su Family, his position is pathetically low. He’s been disdained and overlooked from a young age. Even his father, Su Hongli, considers him an outrageous and unworthy descendant. I truly cannot imagine how a person like that could wield such unbelievable power.”

Zhou Zhizhen nodded. “There’s indeed quite a bit strange about him, but there’s simply no need for us to get involved; there’s no way in hell the Su Family will let him get away with this!”

As he said this last bit, his eyes flashed with cold light.

Zhou Zhikun’s expression mellowed significantly. “You’re right, Third Brother. Su Yi dared to slay the Su Family’s deacon, Yue Changyuan. That’s sure to infuriate the entire Su Family.”

He paused, then laughed coldly, “Despite his pathetic status in the Su Family, so many extraordinary occurrences have been happening around him. Were I a member of the Su Family, I couldn’t possibly remain unmoved!”

It was then that a high-pitched voice rang out from beyond the doors to the secret room. “Your Highness, we have news from the imperial palace.” 

Zhou Zhikun perked up, and he immediately asked, “What did Imperial Father have to say?”

The shrill voice said with obvious respect, “Upon learning of what happened at the Imperatorial Province’s Tea Party, His Majesty fell silent for a full seven or eight minutes, then drank a cup of wine before bursting into laughter. All he said was 'Little Six, that boy, actually rather reminds me of myself back in the day!’” 

Zhou Zhikun and Zhou Zhizhen looked at each other. Both of their expressions shifted. Imperial Father isn’t just not angry; he actually seems to rather admire Sixth Brother’s behavior?

This isn’t good!

Zhou Zhikun took a deep breath, then asked, “Is there other news?”

The shrill voice responded, “Imperial Preceptor Hong Shenshang suggested that they investigate the young Su Yi, but His Majesty said that was the Su Family’s business, and that they would resolve it on their own.”

Zhou Zhikun was stunned. “So, the imperial preceptor can tell that there’s something fishy about Su Yi too…. Then, did Imperial Father mention me at all?”

“He didn’t,” said the high-pitched voice.

Zhou Zhikun’s heart sank. His father had praised his sixth brother without sparing so much as a single word for him. This undoubtedly meant that he’d failed to please his father during this particular test!

Just thinking about it soured his expression. 

“Damn that Su Yi…. Damn him…!” Third Prince Zhou Zhizhen couldn’t help but mutter to himself, his eyes shining with imposing murderous intent. 

“I’m actually rather eager to see just how the Su Family deals with the boy they see as an unworthy descendant….” Second Prince Zhou Zhikun gnashed his teeth and spoke emphatically.

……

The Jade Capital, the Su Family.

Beneath a flourishing, hundred-year-old parasol tree.

Su Hongli sat cross-legged in the shade atop a prayer mat, casually flipping through an ancient tome.

The head of the Su Family wore long, wide-sleeved robes, and his long hair was bound up with a wooden hairpin. He was elegantly handsome, with a mellow, placid air, like an erudite scholar well-versed in the ancient classics. 

An elder in Daoist robes sat beside him. Despite his age, he was hale and hearty, and his eyes were as clear and bright as an infant’s. His breathing was so drawn out, it almost seemed he wasn’t breathing at all.

There was an ancient zither in front of him, and his fingers strummed its strings. The music was reminiscent of a murmuring mountain stream, leisurely and ethereal, like the song of the heavens. 

Suddenly, Su Hongli looked up and gestured for him to stop. “Daoist Brother, worldly affairs have come to interrupt us.”

The elder in Daoist robes smiled faintly, then lifted his hands from the zither.

It was then that the sound of hurried footsteps emanated from afar, and a middle-aged man with dark robes and a grave countenance rushed over.

“This humble one greets you, Your Excellency.” The middle-aged man in dark robes bowed in greeting.

“What is it?” asked Su Hongli.

The dark-robed middle-aged man nodded and said softly, “Your Excellency, there’s news from the Imperatorial Province. They say….”

He then recounted everything that had happened at the Imperatorial Province’s Tea Party.

Throughout his tale, Su Hongli’s expression remained calm and casual, without the slightest ripple of emotion. 

However, when the elder in Daoist robes heard the name “Su Yi”, he looked somewhat startled, and a thoughtful look appeared in his clear eyes.

Once the man in dark robes finished his report, Su Hongli nodded. “What did His Majesty have to say about this incident?”

“He said this was our Su Family’s business, and that it was up to us to decide how to resolve it.”

Su Hongli set his book on a nearby table, then looked at the man in dark robes and asked offhandedly, “Did that unworthy descendant of mine use the Su Family’s name to conduct his affairs?”

The moment he sensed the family head’s gaze, the middle-aged man’s entire body went rigid; he felt as if a deity were staring directly at him!

An invisible pressure turned his knees to jelly and sent a chill down his spine. 

“I… I don’t think so.” The man in dark robes lowered his head. 

Su Hongli continued, “Then did he step foot in the Jade Capital?”

“He didn’t!” This time, the dark-robed middle-aged man answered with firm assurance. 

Su Hongli gave a perfunctory “oh”, then looked away.  He picked his book back up and started reading. Without so much as looking up, he asked, “Who told Yue Changyuan to get mixed up in the conflict between the second and sixth princes?”

The middle-aged man’s heart shook, but he steeled himself and said, “He was most likely acting on the fourth lady of the house’s orders.”

The fourth lady of the house was Su Hongli’s fourth and most beloved wife, You Qingzhi. 

Su Hongli nodded; it seemed he wasn’t surprised. He then glanced at the elder in Daoist robes. “Daoist Brother, how do you think I should resolve this?”

The elder smiled and shook his head. “This is your private family matter. It wouldn’t do for me to get involved.”

Su Hongli smiled too. “Alright. You’re detached by nature, and you detest nothing more than mundane entanglements. I won’t make this difficult for you.”

He then glanced at the man in dark robes once more. “Pass on my decree: Pei Wenshan is to pay a personal visit to the Imperatorial Province. There, he is to tell that unworthy descendant of mine that so long as he lowers his head and admits his mistakes, I’ll give him a chance to turn over a new leaf.”

His tone was casual, and he seemed perfectly composed, as if this were nothing but a trifle. “If he refuses, that’s fine too. I can give him some time to think it over. He has until the fifth day of the fifth lunar month to decide. Go on.”

“Yes, sir!” The middle-aged man in dark robes solemnly acknowledged his commands, then scurried off. 

It was only after the middle-aged man disappeared from view that the elder sighed ruefully, “Fellow Daoist, your cultivation is increasingly impressive. You’re showing signs of unity with heaven and earth. With such foundations, you could easily step into the Origin Dao. Why is it that even after all this time, you still haven’t broken through?”

Su Hongli thought about it, then said flatly, “I’m taking a long-term perspective. If all I wanted were to step into the Origin Dao, I could have done so effortlessly over a decade ago, but I desire more than that.”

He paused, then laughed, “Daoist Brother, you’re already a man of the Origin Dao. You ought to know that even amongst Origin Dao cultivators, there are vast discrepancies in power. I, Su Hongli, have no interest in ordinary paths to the Origin Dao.” 

The elder’s eyes narrowed slightly. “The people of the empire all know that, of the Great Zhou’s Ten Great Xiantian Martial Ancestors, you and Imperial Preceptor Hong Shenshang have the deepest and most inscrutable foundations. I’m rather looking forward to seeing just which path to the Origin Dao you pursue.”

Su Hongli glanced at the tome in his hands, then fell silent for a while. Finally, he said, “There’s no rush.”

The elder nodded and said no more. 

……

Meanwhile, in another part of the Su Family estate. 

Shortly after Su Hongli gave his orders, the fourth lady of the house, You Qingzhi, received word of it.

“He plans to give that little beast a chance to reform himself and start afresh? And he even sent Pei Wenshan to deliver the message in person?” You Qingzhi felt a wave of displeasure in her heart. Her painted eyebrows faintly knit together, and she had a sullen look in her eyes.

Pei Wanshan, the Jade Mountain Marquis, one of the Great Zhou’s eighteen non-Zhou Marquis!

Everyone knew that three of the nine non-Zhou kings and five of the eighteen non-Zhou Marquis were affiliated with the Su Family.

The Jade Mountain Marquis, Pei Wenshan, was one of them.

“Don’t worry, Mother. Father might have given Su Yi a chance to reinvent himself, but that doesn’t mean he’ll give him an important role.” Su Boning laughed, “On the contrary, the way I see it, Father has effectively given Su Yi an ultimatum.”

He was Su Hongli’s fifth child, and he was sixteen years old, dashing, debonair, and promising. In the Jade Capital, he was seen as a rising star, a miraculous genius of the younger generation. 

You Qingzhi exclaimed, “What do you mean?”

Su Boning said assuredly, “Father said he’ll give Su Yi some time to think it over, and his deadline is the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Have you forgotten? All those years ago, it was on the fifth day of the fifth month that Father stripped Su Yi’s mother, Ye Yufei, of her position.”

You Qingzhi’s eyes flashed with cold light. “Of course I remember! It was on that day that that low-class slut lost her status and was put on the back shelf permanently. It was also then that she fell ill. She bitterly clung to life for a while, only to drop dead on the second day of the second lunar month the following year.” 

“That’s right,” said Su Boning leisurely. “It was on the fifth day of the fifth month that Father stripped Ye Yufei of her position. Now, he’s given Su Yi a deadline by which to repent, and just like his mother, it’s the fifth day of the fifth month.

“This is undoubtedly intended as a warning to Su Yi: if he doesn’t repent, the Father will ‘retire’ him too, just as we did Ye Yufei!” 

When You Qingzhi heard that, her eyes lit up with an admiring light, and she sighed, “Boning, you really are just like your father was at your age. You might be young, but you’ve already got both cleverness and power.” 

Su Boning gently clasped his fists and laughed, “This wouldn’t have been possible without all the effort you’ve put into cultivating me!”

You Qingzhi laughed and corrected him, “No, this wouldn’t have been possible without the effort your father put into cultivating you. Without your father, how could you have possibly become a Grandmaster at just sixteen, making you one of the most eye-catching geniuses of the Martial Dao in the entire younger generation of the Jade Capital?”

 She paused, and a hint of iciness rose on her face. “As for that little beast, Su Yi…. Your father has already made a decision. We’ll just have to wait until the fifth day of the fifth month and see whether he’s willing to mend his ways or not!”

Su Boning laughed. “The way I see it, there’s no place for Su Yi in the Su Family. It naturally doesn’t matter whether he mends his ways or not.” 

……

The House of Waveswept Rocks.

At noon, Su Yi and Cha Jin were eating lunch when Yuan Luoyu showed up with a group of Redscale Army Soldiers. They were carrying an enormous box.

Yuan Luoyu clasped his fist in greeting, his expression filled with respect and awe. “Master Su, this box contains the various items we recovered from the peak of the Western Mountain. His Sixth Highness commanded us to deliver them to you.”

Today’s battle at the Western Mountain shook him to the extreme. Now, when he faced Su Yi, he felt increasingly reverent.

Su Yi nodded. “Set it down over there.” 

Yuan Luoyu thought for a moment, then said, “Master Su, my father says he’d like to visit you. What time would work well for you?”

“Tomorrow,” said Su Yi offhandedly.

Before long, Yuan Luoyu bade him a hasty farewell and led his group away.

In the past, he would have stayed to chat with Su Yi a bit longer, but he no longer dared. He didn’t quite know why, but when he faced Su Yi now, he felt intensely reserved, as if a formless pressure were bearing down on him. 

“Cha Jin, no matter who else comes to visit today, tell them to come back tomorrow,” ordered Su Yi.

Cha Jin nodded.

Su Yi rose, then carried the massive box back to his room.

When he opened it, he saw it was full of weapons, spiritual materials, pills, and other such items.

Su Yi rifled through them briefly before picking up an inky black longsword.

Mountain’s Eminence.

This was the weapon Qin Changshan, that powerhouse among fifth-level Grandmasters, had left behind. It weighed three hundred and seventeen catties, and thirty-three types of tier-four spiritual materials had been used to forge it.

Rumor had it that an Earthly Immortal had given this spiritual weapon to Qin Changshan.

The way Su Yi saw it, Mountain’s Eminence was indeed worthy of the title of “spiritual weapon.” The entire blade was permeated with threads of spirituality.

However, it was sloppily forged, and it couldn’t fully realize the potential of the spiritual materials it contained.

“I have a piece of Shooting Star Iron Essence on me. It’s an excellent material for forging spiritual swords. Once I’ve gathered a few more materials, I can melt down Mountain’s Eminence, combine it with the Shooting Star Iron Essence, and reforge it into something new,” Su Yi pondered out loud. 

Today, atop the peak of the Western Mountain, he used Guiding Mysteries to call upon the power of a thousand feet of cloud. This allowed him to slay his fleeing enemies one by one, as effortlessly as if they were made of rotten wood.

However, as a result, he’d drained an enormous amount of power from the Edict of Profound Gathering. The sword’s expenditure was so extreme that faint, barely perceptible cracks had already formed on its blade. 

The fundamental problem was that although Guiding Mysteries was extraordinary, it was still only a sword forged of tier-two spiritual materials. 

Setting aside the power of the Edict, its grade was far inferior to Qin Changshan’s Mountain’s Eminence.

Furthermore, now that Su Yi’s cultivation had advanced to the late stage of the Qi Accumulation Realm and realized the power of Dao Astral Force, Guiding Mysteries struggled to display the full extent of his abilities.

It was to the point that, were he to circulate his entire cultivation, it was highly likely that Guiding Mysteries would be unable to bear that much power. It might well break.

In light of all this, Su Yi had no choice but to start thinking about forging his next sword. 

 As for Mountain’s Eminence….

It was just barely usable, but it didn’t suit him.

At the end of the day, the inherent strength of a sword cultivator's weapon mattered less than whether or not the sword was perfectly compatible with its user’s abilities.

Su Yi then proceeded to root through the box and gather any materials and medicines he could use. He planned to leave the rest where they were. Later, he’d have Cha Jin sell them off at Goldstone Pavilion. 

When he finished, Su Yi walked up to the desk beside the window. From here, he had a perfect view of the clear, blue-green waters of the pond.

The lotus flowers swayed, and the waters gleamed with reflected sunlight. It was tranquil and calm.

Cha Jin was by the side of the pond, wearing a dress the color of water and teasing Chini. The light of the heavens illuminated her charming face, and she shone with a gentle luster.

Chini, the descendant of a Jade-Eyed Crimson Flamebeast, had already grown considerably. It was now half long, its chubby body fuzzy and sleek.

It looked like a fat little white dog - charmingly innocent.

A hint of melancholy silently arose in Su Yi’s heart. 

The reason he accepted Chini into his care was that he planned to give the cub to Wen Lingxue as a pet.

But now…

He could only temporarily set that idea aside.

I need to find an opportunity to help the little guy awaken its intelligence, then bestow it a scripture. After that, how much it accomplishes will depend on its fortune, Su Yi thought to himself.

His mind wandered for a while before he retracted his gaze from the window and spread a sheet of white paper across his desk. He picked up his writing implements and swept the brush against the page.

“A solitary warrior stands against the heavens. Who dares test him? After his victory, he returns to obscurity, like a solitary goose disappearing into blue skies.”

The characters were tranquil and simple, yet a distinct thread of loneliness lingered between the brush strokes. 

Today was the fifteenth day of the third lunar month of the 399th year of Great Zhou’s history.

It was on this day that Su Yi ascended to the peak of the Western Mountain, then slew Yue Changyuan, killed Qin Changshan, and executed Yu Baiting, as well as four other heads of peak-level clans of the provincial capital. 

One man and one sword had single-handedly turned the tides, transforming Sixth Prince Zhou Zhili’s certain defeat into victory. 

This incident shook the entire province, and the entire empire watched the resulting uproar with rapt attention. 

Future generations would call what happened today “the Western Mountain Massacre.”